Three Island hockey pros, two in mid-career and one at the end of his career, came together this week to aid young players.
Ryan O’Byrne, who announced his retirement, headed up the event for the fifth year as 25 Island children from five minor hockey associations were each given a set of equipment from the NHLPA and had their 2016-17 registration fees paid for through KidSport Victoria.
O’Byrne has been the driving force behind the program with Tyson Barrie of the Colorado Avalanche and Jordie Benn of the Dallas Stars also on hand for the presentations at Kirby’s, which included a road hockey game with the kids and pros.
O’Byrne’s program has raised $125,000 for KidSport over five years, not including the equipment donated by the NHLPA.
“Hockey is an expensive sport,” O’Byrne said. “Some families have had to deal with job layoffs or sickness of a parent and just need a little help.”
After a pro career through the NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL, Switzerland and Sweden, O’Byrne is going to finish his business degree at Cornell University, where he played NCAA hockey before turning pro.
“It’s time to head out into the world for my second career,” said O’Byrne, a defenceman who played 333 NHL regular-season and playoff games.
“I am definitely going to miss it and it hasn’t sunk in yet. I’ve played 10 years as a pro. But the body said: ‘Enough.’ There were signs of long-term injury down the road if I kept playing.”
That got Barrie and the Benn brothers, Jordie and Stars captain and NHL MVP Hart Trophy finalist Jamie, talking about continuing O’Byrne’s hockey charity legacy on the Island.
“We started talking about starting something up for the kids to give back to this community that was so good to us,” said rearguard Jordie Benn.
Barrie concurred.
“What Ryan has done is fantastic,” he said.
“That got me, Jordie and Jamie talking. But we’ll have to see what the right thing is.”
The mobile blueliner Barrie is a restricted free agent.
“We’re working on it. We’re trying to get something done that makes sense,” he said about his contract situation.
